The Relevance Of Sustainable Environmental Activities In Logistics Industry Essay.

Organizations always aim to achieve and increase the profit by means of different business activities. However, such kind of business activities always tends to avoid the issues related to the environment. The study conducted here has totally dealt about the relevance of the different types of sustainable environmental activities and the impact on the operations and the administrative performance of the business enterprises.

The study deals with the logistics industry in general. The changing ideologies of the business organizations to transform themselves from aiming at short term gains and turn themselves into organizations that aims at long term profits by ensuring proper care of the environment. The selection of online sources as the references limits the ability of the organization to show the latest scenario in a wider manner and is believed to be the best for the organizations.

Hypothetical writings, with the passage of time have defined the idea of sustainable development in a considerable manner. The study of a number of different meanings of the term, sustainable development has not been able to provide a solid definition which generally provides a settled comprehension of the term just because of the irregularly structured and large-scale issues provided by it. According to, Piecyk & Björklund (2015) the following element must be provided top priority and therefore capacity of the task, different types of administrative activities along with the different viable processes. It has also a number of dynamic capabilities that has to be selected as an important element. The researchers dealing in the management of the operations has been segregating the connection amongst the sustainability and business execution by execution of the different kinds of models, sustainability arrangement as a determinant, the third man, mediator or an execution measurement of the firm. The business execution numbers consists of different kind of variables including the money related or the operational and showcase variables.

In the service sector of a business, the advancement of the operations management has been quite praiseworthy. The main reasons behind this are the limitation of the managers to halt the progress with the basic necessity to reveal the need for the progress management in the organizations (Centobelli, Cerchione & Esposito, 2017). The utilization of the sufficient quality management strategies, methods and apparatus centers totally around the different kinds of quality management strategies. The service sector has now transformed itself into a certain phase where large amount of new adaption and changes takes place accordingly. The large scale customization has risen as an effective and key view of the strategies because of the heterogeneity of the different kind of the needs of the individual people, focused power and the abbreviate item life cycles of the organizations in the market.

As said by, (Evangelista, 2014) the mass customization generally depends on the choice of the customers. The choice of the customers in this case is believed to be the main reason behind the customization as the organizations feel that the success of the organization can only be ensured by satisfying the customers of the organizations. The customization process also ensures item customization and cost-proficiency that is firmly identified with mass generation. The management of the organizations generally achieves the following by productively changing the economies of scale and by implementing other general procedures.

The logistics sector of the business has been provided due attention and thus the Shift of operations strategies in the logistics and the supply chain further indicates the alignment of new strategies with different kinds of quality management practices (Evangelista, Colicchia & Creazza, 2017). A proper and effective literature review that has been provided in the following set up clearly deals in the quality management of logistics and aims at a much higher financial performance, competitiveness and sustainable business excellence while also carrying out the customer’s satisfaction. The strategy to complete the paper shows a compact and effective plan. This will enable to profoundly comprehend different problems such as the management of the operations in the maintenance of both the parameters based on financial and non financial parameters.

Problem Statement in the Case

The following study has addressed a few sectors that are seen to be problematic. These areas are seen to be debatable and have a number of concerns. The main areas are as follows;

1. Whether sustainability has any relevance in the logistics and supply chain management of the organizations operating in the market?

The study in this case is relevant and trustable as because it is not specific in nature and does not provide information on just one single organization. It rather provides information on a generalized form of data and relies solely on search from the online sources. The search from online sources also helps the study to ensure the best possible results as because the online sources provide a variety of information related to the given topic.

The study has set up two different parameters which have been said to be the reference standards to gauge the sustainability of the different companies, especially the organizations that does business in the logistics industry. The parameters selected for completing this particular study are namely Economic Sustainability Performance or ESP and Environmental, Social, Economic and Governance Performance (ESEG). Therefore both the financial aspects (ESP) as well as the non-financial aspects (ESEG) will be looked into to determine the sustainability of the organization (McKinnon et al. 2015). The purpose for considering both the financial as well as the non financial aspects is to ensure the protection of the value of the stakeholders at a much larger level.

As seen in the study of,  Evangelista, Santoro & Thomas (2018) most of the logistics companies operating in the market implements a much narrow approach that generally deals in advertisement, branding, promoting, publicizing and many more as such. This narrow approach needs to be widened and given a comprehensive shape in order to incorporate the different supply chains and the business model frameworks into a larger social, economic or environmental domain. As stated by, Garza-Reyes et al. (2016) the Logistics industry deals with different kind of processes, steps, interfaces, channels and steps that helps in the entire process of smoothening of the production line of the business organization along with the present service industry.

Therefore the logistics companies of the modern era must pay attention to the people as well as the environment apart from the conventional way of making profit from business transactions (Herold & Lee, 2017). The holistic approach has been cited in the following paper where the financial aspects are believed to rule the business of the different organizations but on the other hand sustainability concept halts it a bit to realize the effects that the following has on the environment of the future and also the business enterprise itself.

The methodology chapter has highlighted the methods that have been used to prepare the research. The Conventional ESP has been found out and its impact and effect on ESEG are generally analyzed. The ESP generally deals with the Rate of Interest (ROI) and the Return on Assets (ROA). The use of other kinds of financial metrics that is helpful to calculate the total profits. After the calculation of the total profit earned, the profit is further traded off with the environmental expense. The ESEG is generally calculated after the careful selection of a number of different factors that includes the likes of economic condition of the market, the different regulations imposed by the government, satisfaction levels of the customers of the organizations operating in the market and many more similar factors as such.

Purpose Statement in the Case

The following of the methods also ensures the creation of a fair and proper working environment for the organization as well as the creation of the best in class, rules and regulations. The following also means that the creation of the working culture where the fair treatment prevails and a conductive environment to grow and innovate in the direction of the environmental sustenance and where the end users are generally satisfied and have an infallible faith in the service being offered through the channel and the supply structure which is generally robust yet flexible in nature and authentic. On the other hand different types of the sustainable business operations are referred to as a burden and obligation and also the compulsion on the logistic companies which are generally implemented on them and which the business enterprises must abide by to have a clean, green and ethically sustainable organization.

The organization is also required to allocate a handsome part of the profit and the revenue in the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. The corporate social responsibility is a particular social initiative of the corporate organizations towards the society while carrying out their business operations in the market (Khan et al. 2017). The CSR or the corporate social responsibility gained importance when the sustainability of the business organizations especially sustainability in the logistics industry gained immense importance. Sustainability is therefore viewed as having a number of different positive shades that includes effectiveness, transparent governance in tandem with the rules and the regulations as formulated by the management of the organization which are more comprehensive and favorable for the environment.

The sustainability performance management has an important role in the supply chain management system and the activities. The activities of the organization are highlighted in a number of different dimensions of the logistics process.

Conclusion: 

The performance management of sustainability plays a critical role in logistics management and the tasks can be highlighted in a number of other dimensions of the logistics process of the organization. It is quite imperative to involve the sustainability performance management in the transportation domain along with the logistic system that is used by the organization. The development of the logistics will happen with time along with the development of the sustainability measures. In order to ensure sustainability and become profitable in the business it is important for the organization to keep the transportation costs lower and engage in implementing strategies that can help to gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

The main recommendations are as follows;

1. The environmental rules and regulations must be handled properly to ensure sustainability of the business
2. The Government and the other authorities must try to formulate a rule that will help the organization to avoid any problems
3. The introduction of viable and proper techniques is highly recommended for the organization.

The area of CSR is much higher, wider and quite difficult and complicated in a number of different manners. It is not clear enough to study through a small amount of assets that are generally selected for this particular study. The main idea of a sustainable logistics supply chain is not reliable and needs a detailed and scientific analysis. Apart from this the use of a static data is also one of the main limitations of the following research.

The KPI’s that includes both financial as well as Non Financial can be calculated and be made highlighted to all the different shareholders of a particular organization. The consideration of a generic approach for different kinds of sustainability challenges can be followed and worked upon in order to provide a much stronger foothold to the business enterprise to formulate a proper and effective chart in a proper manner  in the dynamic global market for a longer time period.

References:

Centobelli, P., Cerchione, R., & Esposito, E. (2017). Environmental sustainability in the service industry of transportation and logistics service providers: Systematic literature review and research directions. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 53, 454-470.

Evangelista, P. (2014). Environmental sustainability practices in the transport and logistics service industry: An exploratory case study investigation. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 12, 63-72.

Evangelista, P., Colicchia, C., & Creazza, A. (2017). Is environmental sustainability a strategic priority for logistics service providers?. Journal of environmental management, 198, 353-362.

Evangelista, P., Santoro, L., & Thomas, A. (2018). Environmental sustainability in third-party logistics service providers: A systematic literature review from 2000–2016. Sustainability, 10(5), 1627.

Garza-Reyes, J. A., Villarreal, B., Kumar, V., & Molina Ruiz, P. (2016). Lean and green in the transport and logistics sector–a case study of simultaneous deployment. Production Planning & Control, 27(15), 1221-1232.

Herold, D. M., & Lee, K. H. (2017). Carbon management in the logistics and transportation sector: An overview and new research directions. Carbon Management, 8(1), 79-97.

Khan, S. A. R., Qianli, D., SongBo, W., Zaman, K., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Environmental logistics performance indicators affecting per capita income and sectoral growth: evidence from a panel of selected global ranked logistics countries. Environmental science and pollution research, 24(2), 1518-1531.

McKinnon, A., Browne, M., Whiteing, A., & Piecyk, M. (Eds.). (2015). Green logistics: Improving the environmental sustainability of logistics. Kogan Page Publishers.

Mehmann, J., & Teuteberg, F. (2016). The fourth-party logistics service provider approach to support sustainable development goals in transportation–a case study of the German agricultural bulk logistics sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 126, 382-393.

Monios, J. (2015). Integrating intermodal transport with logistics: a case study of the UK retail sector. Transportation Planning and Technology, 38(3), 347-374.

Oberhofer, P., & Dieplinger, M. (2014). Sustainability in the transport and logistics sector: lacking environmental measures. Business Strategy and the Environment, 23(4), 236-253.

Pearson, M. (2015). Transport and Logistics Sector. In Africans Investing in Africa (pp. 289-308). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Piecyk, M. I., & Björklund, M. (2015). Logistics service providers and corporate social responsibility: sustainability reporting in the logistics industry. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(5), 459-485.

Piecyk, M. I., & Björklund, M. (2015). Logistics service providers and corporate social responsibility: sustainability reporting in the logistics industry. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(5), 459-485.